If you believe you might not have received a previous email, or want to review them all in one place, they can be found at:  http://www.2015event.mosaicoutdoor.org/AttendeeInfo.aspx

This is our third email to registered attendees of the 2015 Jewish Outdoor Escape. Here, you will find everything you will need to know to get to the event. Here are the following topics:

Arriving By Personal Car
Baggage Handling In Camp
Meeting The Mosaic Shuttle At JCC In NYC
Newark Airport Arrivals
Pre-Trip Arrivals
Emergency Phone Numbers
Check Your Registration:
Mobile Event Guide
Friday Night: The First Annual Mosaic Storyslam
Tropical Storm Erika

ARRIVING BY PERSONAL CAR

Directions and Mapping

The official Mailing Address: Camp JRF, 108 Rabbi Jeff Way, South Sterling, PA 18460

For Mapping Or Use Of GPS Unit

The best address to use for any mapping or GPS purposes: 41.267349, -75.335984
For more info about GPS coordinates see http://www.2015event.mosaicoutdoor.org/AddlInfo/GPSInfo.aspx

Alternate address for GPS, so you can also use: 
1 Pine Grove Road, South Sterling, PA or
1 Pine Grove Road, Newfoundland, PA 
(Camp JRF sits on the border of the two towns so both addresses will work)

Camp is a short distance from the intersection Rt. 191 and Pine Grove Road, South Sterling, PA., NOT the intersection of Rt. 447.

For online mapping purposes:

Google Maps: 1 Pine Grove Road, Newfoundland, PA
Mapquest: 375 Pine Grove Road, Newfoundland, PA
Yahoo Maps: Rabbi Jeff Way, Newfoundland, PA 18445
Bing Maps: Rabbi Jeff Way, Newfoundland, PA 18445
WAZE: 1 Pine Grove Road, South Sterling, PA, United States

For Written Directions 

Camp go to: http://campjrf.org/about/directions/
Note: The Alternate route in the written directions makes for a nice ride.

IMPORTANT WARNING IF YOU ARE DRIVING TO CAMP FROM THE SOUTH: If you are driving to camp via the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 476), your directions may have you exit the Turnpike at exit 87 (route 903) (and likewise, your return directions may have you take route 115 to route 903 to re-enter the turnpike). This exit/entrance is open to E-ZPass tag holders only (all electronic and no cash option). If you do not have an E-ZPass, do not enter or exit the Turnpike at Route 903. You should instead continue to exit 95 to I-80 East (when leaving camp, take exit 277 to I-476 South). This is almost the same distance. 

Check-in

Check-in at camp opens at 3:00 p.m. Please be kind to the organizers and do not arrive earlier (we will turn you away at the door if you do). Keep in mind, there may be heavy traffic on Thursday afternoon (suggest looking at the alternate route by taking Rt. 191 to avoid traffic). Upon arrival, you will be asked to temporally park your car and check in for the Jewish Outdoor Escape, where you will receive your registration packet.  This packet will include the weekend schedule, a camp map, a T-shirt, your name badge, and your cabin/room assignment.

Registration will be open from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.at the camp office.  If you arrive between 6pm and – 8:30 pm, just park your car (leave your luggage in the car) and join us at dinner.  We will reopen registration from 8:30pm – 10:30pm in back of the Ulam (Large Hall near the pool) where evening activities will be held. Please try not to arrive after 10:30 pm as driving through camp after dark is not safe as you will need to drive through the middle of camp to park your car.  If you do arrive after 10:30 pm, we will leave instructions on the office door indicating where to put your car and how to find your room.  It will also indicate when/where to pick up your registration packet on Friday morning.

Baggage Handling In Camp

If you are driving to camp, you may drive to your cabin (after registering) and park for 5 minutes while you unload your gear.  Your car must then be moved to your designated parking area.  

For those who are not in their own vehicle

Check in at registration to find your housing assignment.  Take your luggage to the basketball court (front porch of office in case of rain) and put your gear near the sign indicating your housing area.  The camp staff will then pick up the baggage and deliver it to a centralized location near your cabin. You will need to carry it the rest of way into your cabin.  

Meeting the Mosaic Shuttle at JCC in NYC

Please arrive by 1:30 at the JCC in Manhattan @ 334 Amsterdam Ave (near 76th Street), New York, NY. Once you arrive at the JCC find Gayle Nadler, your bus queen, who will be wearing a Mosaic Leaders Hat and T-Shirt. She should be near the front of the building or in the lobby.  She will check you off on her list before you load the bus. Please be courteous and help everyone loading we are all volunteers.  

THE BUS WILL LEAVE THE JCC on Thursday BY 1:58PM.  IF YOU ARRIVE AT THE JCC AFTER 1:45PM TIME YOU WILL BE LEFT BEHIND. The bus will not wait. 

Newark Airport Arrivals

For the people arriving on Thursday September 3rd at the Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), please make your way to the baggage claim level in Terminal A Exit Door #1. This is the far corner of the building. There is a large open area with seats in the corner. Dave Kaufman will be your Airport Bus Captain and will meet you at the designated location. 

Around 2:45pm (or when the bus is 20 min away) we will all exit Door #1, turning left to find the bus in the bus parking around around the corner of the terminal. We will load and leave by 3:06pm to beat the rush hour traffic. 

If you run to issues in your travels and you are taking the shuttle please contact either Dave Kaufman (Cell 512-663-9926) or Gayle Nadler (212-628-0638) to let them know what is going on. We will try to help you if you miss the bus due to flight issues, but you most likely will need to rent a car to get to camp. 

Pre-Trip Arrivals

For those people attending the pre-trip,  check-in at the hotel is 4:00pm on Tuesday, September 1st. Please do not try to get early check-in as we will not be ready for you. Anyone who is flying into the Philadelphia International Airport can use one of several methods of getting to the hotel, as described on the event website at the bottom of the Pre-Trip page (http://2015event.mosaicoutdoor.org/PreTrip.aspx).

We will be meeting in the lobby of the hotel at 5:30 pm to go to the restaurant, as a group. Along the way we will try to take group pictures under the Chinatown Friendship Archway. Dinner will be at 6:00pm at the New Harmony Vegetarian Restaurant (Kosher Chinese). 

Emergency Phone Numbers

Cell phone service is very limited at camp. We're told that Verizon has the best reception. AT&T is sporadic. T-Mobile and Sprint are risky. In addition, there is very limited Wi-Fi available at camp. 

You may leave the following phone number at home in case of emergency.

The primary emergency number is the MOSAIC Hotline: 888-MOSAICS / 888-667-2427

If you've not received or accidentally deleted any of the informational letters, you can find them here: Informational Letters

Check your registration: 

Remember, this year we have instituted a change fee for registration changes which occur after August 20th! 

For any changes to your registration please contact us at Registration@MosaicOutdoor.org for anything pertaining to your registration. Any change requests after August 20th will incur an $18 change fee per item changed unless authorized by the chair people. Cancellation policies will override the change fee policy if you cannot attend the event. For more information about the change fee, please see the REGISTRATION page of the event website at:http://2015event.mosaicoutdoor.org/Registration.aspx

You probably have no idea how much chaos "little requests" such as changing hikes or adding your final transportation information causes. Please make your final activity selections NOW. We also need to know how you are planning on getting to camp. This is to make sure everyone is accounted for and that we have a final count for the MOSAIC shuttle. If you are on a waiting list for a housing upgrade or an activity, don't worry, the change fee does not apply if you get a last minute call that we've made additional room on your activity or housing preference has become available.

Spot Available on Post-Trip

Due to unforeseen circumstances, an attendee on the post-trip will not be able to attend it. If anyone is interested in taking the available spot, please e-mail registration@mosaicoutdoor.org.

Mobile Event Guide

Want to see your schedule or a map of the camp?  Check out the mobile version of Regonline at
https://www.regonline.com/register/m/?eventid=1601930

Election Notice

The Mosaic Outdoor Clubs of America (MOCA) is overseen by a Board of Directors, and several positions on the board are up for election. The election takes place Sunday night of the event, and we’re looking for a few interested members to run for office.
This year, the following positions are up for election: 

•  Vice President
•  Secretary
• Treasurer
• Member-At-Large (4 positions) 

 If you're interested in running, just announce your candidacy before the election.  Any questions, reach out to elections@mosaicoutdoor.org.

 

The First Annual Mosaic StorySlam

This is the first year at our national event that we are presenting StorySlam – a performance format based on MOTH StorySlam. And, we are seeking eight people to perform.  

The rules and format are very simple. Each performer will be called to the “stage” and given 5 minutes to tell a story about something that happened to her/him. Stories must be based on some element of truth (not totally fanciful). All stories must have as their central theme, “It couldn’t get any worse.” 

The winner of StorySlam will receive a $25 Starbucks Gift Card.   All performers will receive a $5 Starbucks Gift Card. Email  Gabe Goldman at primskills@yahoo.com to let him know you want to perform. We will choose 8 people to present.

You may not want to perform but you may want to share in a few sentences something that happened to you that you didn’t think could get worse. Email me, but keep your remarks short, and we’ll pick some of these comments to read as well. Be sure to include your first name.  
Gabe Goldman will be the MC for the evening, a person well familiar with things that he didn’t think could get any worse.  

Gabe is former President of MOCA and was a Hollywood Wilderness Survival Consultant (Gabe made his television debut in 2007 on “Dirty Dancing: Reality TV” – and unofficially “appears” in episodes of 24, Sons of Anarchy and Celebrity Fitness).

Tropical Storm Erika

We are keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Erika and the potential for its remnants to disrupt travel to Newark on Thursday. While we do not currently expect any disruptions, we are exploring what options we have to adjust transportation schedules in the event that it does become an issue. If your flight is delayed or canceled as a result of the storm, please contact us at 888-667-2427 or event@mosaicoutdoor.org as soon as you become aware of the issue. While we cannot guarantee transportation if you do not arrive in time for the bus as scheduled, we will do our best to help you with whatever resources we have. Obviously, the sooner we know about the problem, the more likely it will be that we can help. If everyone who could have picked you up is already in camp when you call, you will probably have no choice but to rent a car (at your own expense).

Click Here to Register for the 2015 Jewish Outdoor Escape